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British and Irish League debate is dismissed as a deflection tactic
By Josh Raisey
Ospreys chairman Rob Davies has created quite a discussion this past week by saying that there will be a British and Irish League in place come 2022.
This is a topic that has been discussed for years and flares up from time to time with advocates on either side of the debate.
The Welsh regions have often been the most staunchly in favour of such a league, while English sides have been the strongest opponents. Since Davies’ comments last Friday, this debate has ignited once again.
While the Welsh regions struggle financially and would benefit hugely from the investment that would come with this new league, Davies’ comments have been dismissed by many as a deflection tactic.
The chairman endured a tough time last week, as the Ospreys were grilled for being rather vague regarding their head coach Allen Clarke.
Davies has since revealed that Clarke remains an employee at the Liberty Stadium but no longer has a coaching role - and will remain employed until the legal situation at the region is resolved.
Former Wales head coach Mike Ruddock has come in since then on a short-term consultancy role, but the situation regarding Clarke remains nebulous.
The management of the region had already come under fire prior to the coaching debacle, so nothing has not helped their cause in the past week. Therefore, talk about a British and Irish League would be the perfect way for Davies to skirt around any criticism he may face.
Whether this was a case of deflection or not, it does not mean that Davies was not telling the truth, although the timing means some have said that his comments need to be taken with a pinch of salt.
What it has undoubtedly done is start this discussion again, particularly regarding the practicalities of such a league, the future of the Champions Cup, and what will happen to the Italian and South African teams that are currently in the PRO14.
While this would be one of the defining changes made to northern hemisphere rugby in the professional era, many are not getting ahead of themselves yet.
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Latest Comments
The boy needs to bulk up if wants to play 10 or 11 to handle those hits, otherwise he could always make a brilliant reserve for the wings if he stays away from the stretcher.
Go to commentsIn another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.
First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.
They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.
Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.
Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.
That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup
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